Electronic devices, including electronic portable devices, have gained widespread use and may provide a variety of functions including, for example, telephonic, electronic messaging and other personal information manager (PIM) application functions. Electronic portable devices include, for example, several types of mobile stations such as simple cellular telephones, so-called smart phones, wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), and pad/tablet-styled computers with wireless 802.11 or Bluetooth™ capabilities.
Electronic portable devices such as pad/tablet-styled devices or smart phones are generally intended for handheld use and ease of portability. Accordingly, shells are available to attach to such a device to help protect that device from scratches, marring, and damage from inadvertent contact with other objects during handheld use or movement from one place to another.
There are times when the user may wish to use their device hands-free while observing the device's display. For example, the user may wish to watch a video on their device without holding the device. In such a case many users prefer to place the device in a substantially upright position (in either a portrait orientation or a landscape orientation) on some convenient surface such as a desk or countertop.
To facilitate such orientation, some shells include a deployable stand. Unfortunately, many such stands add considerable undesired thickness to the shell. Such stands also often require a number of additional parts that lead to increased costs, reliability concerns, and manufacturability issues.